I’m tracking down interesting trees in villages, towns and cities throughout Britain and Ireland for my latest research project. Can you help?
Following in the footsteps of Great Trees of London Map published earlier this year, my new project is a survey of great urban trees across England, Scotland, Wales and the island of Ireland. The London map highlights 46 remarkable trees in the city (whittled down from a long-list of well over 100), and now I’d like to extend the research to the the whole of Britain and Ireland.
This is a significant task, so that’s why I’d like to enlist your help. I would love to hear about noteworthy trees in urban areas throughout these islands. By noteworthy, I mean trees that have stories associated with them, have names (like the Elephant Tree), are physically remarkable – perhaps they are particularly old, big or are of characterful shape. They could be local landmarks, or maybe they’re especially rare or unusual species. They might even be trees that are under threat and could do with some publicity (and protection).
In short, the trees I’m interested in are important to people and add character to their location. They are trees that deserve to be more widely known.
My intention is to ‘collect’ accounts, details, stories and locations of these remarkable trees, of which I’m convinced there are thousands. Over the next couple of years, I’d like to visit some of the trees and eventually, I’d like to publish details of as many as possible in – hopefully – another book.
So if you know of a tree that you think I may be interested in hearing about, please use the form below to get in touch. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can and I may ask for some more details too.
If you’re on Facebook, I have started a Remarkable British and Irish Trees group – please join!